


Puppy Love

by MilitaFire



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Veterinarians, Awkward Flirting, Dogs, F/M, Falling In Love, Flirting, Fluff, Jancy Fic Week, Oh and the 101 Dalmations leash trope, Romantic Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-12
Updated: 2019-02-28
Packaged: 2019-05-21 06:00:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14909694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MilitaFire/pseuds/MilitaFire
Summary: Nancy takes in her new puppy for a checkup at a local Vet Clinic.She didn't expect to meet another one in the form of a cute man with a crooked smile.For Summer of Jancy Fic Week 2018





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this will be my first multi-chapter fic, and it may get bumpy in places, but enjoy!

“Hello, Thank you for calling Tender Paws Veterinary Clinic, this is Joyce, how may I help you?”

“Hello, my name is Nancy Wheeler and I need to schedule a checkup for my puppy, Mocha.”

“Okay..”

A short pause and silence except for the typing of keys.

“I don't happen to see you in our database, would this be your first time visiting with us?”

“Yes, it would be.”

“How old is your puppy, and what breed?”

“She's a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, and she's six months.”

“Okay, Does Saturday at noon work for you?”

Nancy drags her finger across the calendar hanging off the fridge and finds it empty.

“Yes, that's perfect.”

“Okay, see you then!”

“Thank you, see you on Saturday!”

Nancy hangs up and puts her phone back in her pocket before taking the marker stuck to the side of the calendar and writing ‘Mocha’s Checkup: Noon’ on it, before walking back into the living room where the puppy in question is lounging on the couch like the little princess that she is.

“You hear that, munchkin? You gotta go to the Vet on Saturday.”

Nancy tells her, plopping herself on the couch and pulling the puppy into her lap.

“You better be on your best behavior for me, or else no treats for all of next week!”

She picks up the rope toy on the other end of the couch and dangles it over Mocha’s face, who eagerly grabs it and starts a game of tug-of-war. Speaking of treats, she wonders when Barb will be back with those cupcakes she promised.

 

______

 

Saturday rolls around and Nancy loads Mocha and her rope toy into the car and drives her way to the clinic. After reading reviews online stating that the clinic was “small but the staff was warm and friendly” she decided to take her new puppy there for her first visit. She always liked to support local businesses, and if the clinic gave her a good feeling, she wouldn't see another reason to not bring Mocha back.

She spots the building on the side of the road and pulls in to the gravel parking area. She gets out of the car and clips Mocha on her leash, letting her sniff around for a few minutes and before picking her up and walking through the door. Nancy takes in the decorations on the wall, framed art pieces of cats and dogs and other things you'd traditionally see in a Veterinary Clinic.

She walks up to the front desk where a woman with small smile and tired eyes sits behind it. Her name tag says Joyce.

“Hi, I'm here for an appointment for my puppy, Mocha."

The woman smile grows when her eyes land on Mocha. She turns to the computer, clicking the mouse a few times.

"You must be Nancy?”

She nods and Joyce pulls out some papers from a filing cabinet, handing them along with a pen and clipboard to her. 

"Fill these out and take a seat over there, please. You’ll be called shortly.” She takes a seat on the cushioned bench up against the wall and starts to fill out the forms, answering questions about her little ball of fluff. The fluffball in question sits at her feet, chewing at her rope toy.

After finishing the forms she stands and delivers them back to Joyce, who takes the papers with a ‘Thank You.’ She returns to her seat and plays with Mocha for a bit.

“Mocha?”

She looks up towards the source of the voice. The man it belongs to stands in the doorway to the hall with the exam rooms, dressed in medical scrubs with dog bones on them and black scrub pants. He has brown, messy hair that hangs in his eyes a bit and even darker eyes and a dimple in his chin _and those cheekbones could cut glass-_

 _He’s cute._  Is the first thought that runs through her head. The second is  _you haven't even gotten up yet, Nancy._

She quickly stand and grabs Mocha’s leash, the two of them walking up to him. 

“Follow me, please.”

He leads them into an exam room and shuts the door behind them.

“I'm Jonathan.” He offers his hand and she shakes it.

“Nancy. And this here is Mocha.” She states.

He bends down to the puppy, patting her head. She notes instantly that she's wagging her tail. From the day that she was brought home, the Spaniel has always been shy towards strangers. 

Jonathan picks her up and sets her on the exam table. He  starts taking her vitals, looking Mocha over. When he removes his stethoscope and puts it in his ears, placing the other end to her side, checking her heart rate, she licks the tip of his nose and her eyebrows raise.

“She likes you.” She says when he removes the stethoscope and he smiles, which comes out cute and crooked.

When he tells her he's going to take blood he asks her to stand and pat Mocha’s head to distract her. As he shaves some fur off of her back leg and inserts the needle, she can’t help but notice how good he smells. 

After he's finished collecting blood he tells her he's going to run it for tests, and she takes a seat and holds Mocha in her lap. “That wasn't so bad, was it?” She asks, scratching the dog behind her ear. She spaces out and her mind wanders to Jonathan, and his cute smile, and how soft his hair looks, and how nice his voice sounds, and how dark his eyes are-

_Jesus, Nancy, you're at a Vet appointment. Calm down._

She spends a few more minutes petting Mocha until the door opens and Jonathan walks back in, pulling a rolling chair out from under the counter against the wall and taking a seat across from her.

"Everything looks good. She's at a healthy weight and her blood tests came back normal."

She smiles and a bit of relief floods through her. A healthy puppy is always good.

"Have you ever owned a puppy before?"

"No, I haven't."

He pulls a pamphlet out of the pocket on his scrub top and holds it out to her, she takes it and the front cover shows a Jack Russell puppy and in big, bold letters: _Caring for your New Puppy 101._

"This is just some tips and tricks for new owners. Helps with training and stuff like that. Not that I'm saying your doing a bad job, of course."

"Of course you aren't." She says, and she can't help the way her lashes flutter just a bit. 

He smiles again and stands.

"I'll show you out."

They walk down the hall and he opens the door to the waiting room.

"Bye, Mocha." He says, scratching her behind the ears, and the puppy wags her tail for the second time.

"Bye, Nancy."

"Bye, Jonathan."

She walks to the front desk where Joyce still sits and pulls out her wallet to pay. Joyce wishes her a nice afternoon and she does the same before walking out.

She already knows that she will come back here for the rest of Mocha's future appointments.

And she hopes that when she does, Jonathan will be the one to work with them once again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nancy and Mocha come home from the appointment and Barb formulates a plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2! Sorry for the long wait, hope this is worth it! Enjoy!

She arrives back home to find Barb sitting on the couch, TV on and donut in hand. The rest of the box is on the coffee table. Nancy sets Mocha down, who eagerly jumps on the couch next to Barb and licks her face.

"So, how did it go?" Barb asks, affectionately scratching the dog behind the ears.

"Mocha here has a clean bill of health," she states and proudly smiles, going to sit on the other side of her. She leans her head back against the couch and her smile grows when her thoughts (inevitably) wander back to Jonathan.

She just can't get over how Mocha took to him instantly. The dog was always shy around strangers and preferred to be in the company of the people she knew, like herself and Barb, but with Jonathan it seemed to be different.

It also didn't help that he was unbearably cute.

When she snaps out of her daze, Barb is staring at her with a furrowed brow and piercing eyes.

"What is it?"

"You're acting weird."

"Me?"

"Yes, you."

She scoffs. "No I'm not."

"Yes you are! You were just staring at the ceiling and smiling at it like you're crazy. Something happened, so spill."

She sighs. She knows better than to dig her heels in the sand when it comes to Barb. They've known each other their entire lives, after all.

"It's just...the guy who worked on Mocha."

Barb turns fully to her now, getting invested. "Yeah? What about him?"

"...he was cute."

"Cute?" Barb's tone is full of confusion.

"Yeah! He had this really crooked smile and soft looking hair and- What?"

She's interrupted by Barb laughing and looking at her with a shit-eating grin.

"You have the hots for Mocha's Veterinarian."

Her mouth opens and closes a few times, trying to come up with a rebuttal, but ultimately failing.

"No denial? Nancy Wheeler, I am thoroughly surprised."

"Oh, hush up." She mutters, halfheartedly pushing at Barb's shoulder. Mocha grumbles at the movement of Barb and jumps off the couch and heads to lay on her dog bed on the other side of the room. "Sorry, Mocha!" Barb calls after the dog and stares at her for a couple of seconds. Her expression suddenly turns serious, and Nancy can see the gears turning in her head.

Oh no.

"If he's a Veterinarian, he should have a dog, right?"

"What?"

"I said, if he's a Vet, he should have a dog, right?"

She rolls her eyes. "Just because he's a Vet doesn't mean he'd own a dog, Barb."

"Well it would still be worth a shot!"

"What would be worth a shot?!"

"You should go to the park with Mocha and wait and see if he comes!"

She looks at Barb (who looks like she just discovered the secret of life) like she has two heads. 

"Think about it! You and Romeo could bond over having dogs and loving animals and it would be perfect!"

"Barb. I'm not wasting my time in a park for a guy who may or may not even show up. And his name is Jonathan."

"C'mon, what can it hurt? Even if it doesn't work you'll still get to take Mocha out."

Nancy rolls her eyes in a good-mannered way and snags a donut from the box.

"I'm going to lay down."

"Think about what I said!"

As she makes her way into her bedroom, she can't help but do just that.

 

\----------------

 

_I can't believe I'm wasting my time in a park for a guy who may or may not even show up._

She's sitting on a bench, surveying the park with Mocha at her feet, who is relaxing in the sun and sniffing the fresh air. Barb's words are playing in her head.

_You have the hots for Mocha's Veterinarian._

.....So what if she did?

He was cute. And he was so gentle with Mocha. "You liked him, didn't you?" She scratches Mocha behind the ears, who wags her tail at the touch. After a few moments of thought, she huffs and sits back.

 _Fine, Barb._ She thinks. _I'll go through with your plan._

They wait for another hour, playing fetch and walking around the park before she gives up. The next day they return and try again, but with no luck. The same happens the day after that and she's starting to think this plan is truly a waste of time when she returns once more to the park, and things finally swing her way.

Her and Mocha are back on the bench, Mocha entertaining herself with her rope toy while she reads the pamphlet on puppy training that Jonathan gave her and keeps an eye out just in case the man in question shows up. After a half hour she starts to get ready to pack up when she spots a man with shaggy brown hair walking down the path with what looks to be a Golden Retriever on a leash. Her eyes widen just a bit.

There's no way that's-

The golden has spotted her and Mocha as well and suddenly starts to tug on the leash, intent on meeting the two, pulling the man right along and right in front of her.

"Ziggy!" The man calls but it's too late, he's already standing in front of her and Ziggy is bending down to sniff Mocha, who is now on her feet and doing the same.

No way.

Now that she has a good look at his face her hunch was right.

"I'm so sorry, he just loves meeting other dogs." Jonathan hurriedly apologizes, gaze down at Ziggy as he holds the dog back just a bit. He hasn't seen her face yet.

"It's alright, Jonathan." She says. At his name he looks up and his eyes widen just a bit as the recognition dawns on him.

"Nancy?"

She stands and offers her hand. "It's nice to see you again."

He continues to stare for a second before blinking himself back into reality and shaking her hand.

"Yeah! Yeah, it's uh, it's nice to see you too." He pauses for a second, obviously searching for something else to say when he looks down next to her and spots Mocha, who is still engaged in sniffing Ziggy.

"How's Mocha been?"

She can't help the way her heart flutters just a bit as he remembers the name of her dog.

"She's fine. Who's this?"

She asks and nods her head down to Ziggy.

"This is Ziggy. He's about a year old."

She reaches her hand out to Ziggy, who gives it a sniff and then a small lick. Jonathan smiles a little.

"He likes you."

He says and a smile spreads across her face as well.

"Mocha likes you too. You were really good with her at her appointment."

Jonathan's smile grows into his traditional crooked one and he ducks his head just a bit. "Thank you."

They smile at each other for a few seconds and she quickly asks, "Do you want to take a walk?"

"Uh, sure!" She quickly packs up Mocha's rope toy and the pamphlet into her bag and they start to walk down the path with the dogs.

"How've you been, Nancy?"

"I've been good, and you?"

"Fine. Working a lot."

She nods. "How long have you been working there?"

"Uh, a really long time, I guess. The owners are an older couple, really nice. I started out sweeping and cleaning when I was young. My mom works there too."

"Wait, your mom works there?"

"Yeah, she's the receptionist. Joyce." She smiles.

"She's very nice."

He smiles back at her. "She's the best."

They've stopped in front of the pond in the park and continue to talk for a little bit more when suddenly, Mocha and Ziggy start to chase each other around herself and Jonathan. The leashes end up getting tangled around their legs, pulling each other tight against the other, chest to chest.

"Oh!"

"Oh!"

Her cheeks flame with heat at the sudden closeness to Jonathan. She can see the small little bit of stubble he has on his face, the dimple in the middle of his chin and how nice he smells.

They both chuckle awkwardly and move to unwrap the leashes from their legs. They step apart from each other, and she hates how awkward the mood between them is now.

"I should be going.." He says.

"So should I."

"Uh, I'll see you later, I guess."

"Yeah, see you later."

They part ways and she continues to walk down the path, cursing herself for not saying more.

"Nancy?"

She turns and Jonathan is walking back to her.

"Yeah?"

He seems to steel himself before continuing.

"Do you, uh, do you want to do something some time?"

He's asking her out. He's asking her out.

"I'd love to." She smiles.

His eyes widen a bit, like he wasn't expecting that answer.

She reaches out her hand. "Give me your phone, I'll put my number in it."

She bites down a giggle when he pulls his phone out of his pocket at lighting fast speed. After putting her number in it, she pulls her own out and gives it to him so he can put his own in.

They part ways with soft smiles and as she walks home with Mocha, she can't help but cheer a little to herself in victory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Kudos and comments are always appreciated!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter, enjoy! Happy Birthday @jancys-blue-bayou
> 
>  
> 
> There's a bit of a suggestive scene in the Epilogue, but not enough to up the overall rating I believe.

\---------------------------

_Thursday_

She's sitting on the couch watching reruns of The Golden Girls when her phone goes off. She can't help the grin that spreads across her face when she sees that it's a text from Jonathan.

Eagerly, she opens it.

_[Jonathan 🐶 : Hey Nancy, I am so so so sorry but I can't find anyone to watch Ziggy on Saturday so I think I'm gonna have to cancel. I am so so sorry again.]_

Dissapointment floods through her. Not at Jonathan, but in general. She's been looking forward to see him ever since they had planned this. She's just about to suggest a reschedule when an idea pops into her head.

_[Don't worry Jonathan, we can always reschedule...but what if we don't go out to dinner, and just stay in at one of our places instead? Barb is gonna be out a little later that day so maybe mine?]_

A few minutes later he responds.

_[Jonathan 🐶 : That works! We could do mine too. I could make us dinner. You could bring Mocha too, Ziggy would enjoy the company I'm sure.]_

She grins.

_[A vet who can cook? seems real interesting. Your place it is.]_

\---------------------

_Saturday_

 

"Calm down, Wheeler," She instructs her reflection, brushing through her hair for what seems like the millionth time.

Her first date with Jonathan, tonight. Her first date in what seems like the longest time. But this one feels different somehow. Ever since that day in the park where they met again, he's been all she can think about. It's new and different and sort of scary and she feels like a high schooler again. Barb had been endlessly teasing her from the minute she got back to their place and told her that her outlandish plan had worked.

She sets her hairbrush down and stands back to take a look at herself. She's in a simple skirt and her favorite sweater. She checks her watch. 5:40. Almost time to leave for Jonathan's. Walking out into the livingroom, she approaches Barb, sitting on the couch and typing on her laptop, and Mocha playing with her favorite rope toy next to her.

"How do I look?"

Barb looks up from her laptop and her eyebrows raise as she nods in approval.

"Great. You gotta be careful or he might pass out."

"Shut up!"

"I'm just telling the truth!"

"You're the worst."

"You love me."

She rolls her eyes and huffs. "Come on Mocha, time to go." The spaniel eagerly jumps to the ground, tail going a mile a minute as they walk to the front hallway to put the leash on Mocha.

"Have fun!" Barb calls out behind them.

\---------------------------------------------

 

She knocks on the door to Jonathan's place, bouncing on her heels a bit as she does so. Why is she so nervous? She wills the butterflies in her stomach to stop fluttering and takes a deep breath.

Jonathan opens the door and her first thought is _Wow, he cleans up nice._

He certainly wasn't lacking in the attractiveness department before but his outfit just adds to it. A nice pair of jeans and collared shirt that shows off how broad his shoulders are, and hair combed away from his face. The stubble he had at the park is gone, freshly shaven.

Mocha instantly pulls on the leash, tail wagging furiously as she jumps up on Jonathan's leg, demanding his attention. He smiles and scratches her behind the ears.

"Mocha!" She admonishes and her cheeks flame up in an embarrased blush.

"It's okay. Hey, Nancy." Jonathan's voice is soft but a little gravely like always.

"Hey, Jonathan. How are you?"

"Good. Yourself?"

"I'm fine, thank you."

He steps out of the doorway and gestures his arm open a little. "Uh, come in."

She does so and she looks around his front hallway. Delicious smelling food is wafting throughout the entire place. Mocha smells it too, and apparently other interesting things as well, because she's going crazy sniffing everything in reach.

"I can take your coat." Jonathan offers, and she nods and shrugs out of it and hands it to him. Their hands brush and she can't help the way her heart jumps a little at the contact.

She notices that his cheeks are red as he fully takes her in for the first time tonight. He seems to be a bit of a daze, still looking at her in silence before he snaps himself out of it.

"You look really pretty tonight, Nancy." He mumbles, head ducking down to avoid her eyes.

Now it's her turn to blush. "Thank you. You look good too." He smiles a little at that and ducks his head even more.

"Where's Ziggy?"

"Laying down. I gave him a toy so he wouldn't freak out when you came over."

They walk into his livingroom, where Ziggy is laying on a dog bed next to the couch and chewing on what seems to be an alligator toy. His head perks up when he sees Mocha and he jumps to his feet, and Nancy unhooks Mocha from her leash so the two can reunite. Mocha practically flings herself on top of Ziggy, who seems more than content to be Mocha's landing pad. She and Jonathan watch the two get reaccquainted with a smile before deciding they should do the same. Jonathan leads her into the small kitchen, leaving the dogs alone to play.

"You have a nice place here, Jonathan." She comments as he pulls a chair out for her at the dining table. She smiles a little at how gentleman-y the act is.

"Thank you." He says as he walks to prepare two plates for them. He comes back a second later and her mouth waters as he sets it in front of her. Spaghetti and meatballs in a sauce with garlic bread on the side. She's blown away at how good it all looks.

"It looks great!" She compliments as he sits down himself. He thanks her again.

"Uh, dig in." He says and she twirls the pasta around her fork and she notices how he seems to be holding his breath as she takes the first bite. Her tastebuds sing with flavor and she savors every second as she chews and swallows.

"This is really delicious, Jonathan." she says and he physically relaxes, shoulders lowering and exhaling before smiling crookedly.

"I'm glad."

They eat in silence for a few minutes before Jonathan starts up a conversation.

"So, uh, what do you do?"

"I intern at the local paper. I want to be a Journalist."

Jonathan nods, eyebrows raised in genuine interest.

"What makes you want to be one?"

"I've wanted to since I was a teenager. Really loved to write and wanted to get the truth out there." She decides to ask him a few questions. "How long have you wanted to be a Vet?"

"Since I was a little kid. Always loved animals, and mom got a job as the receptionist at Tender Paws, so I grew up around it and stuff."

"Wow, she's been there a long time then."

"Yeah, she's great. Always supported me." She smiles.

"Do you have any siblings?"

"Yeah, a younger brother. Will. He's a senior in High School."

"I've got a brother in High School too. Mike. And Holly's my baby sister."

"What're they like?"

"Mike is a hormonal piece of work but loyal, I'll give him that. Holly's a sweetheart. What's Will like?"

"He's a good kid. Really artistic, loves to draw and paint. He wants to be a comic book artist."

"Is he a great cook like you are?"

Jonathan grins at that, big and full, and it makes her return it in response.

"He's alright."

"And what about your mom?"

"Hey, what's with the questioning on my family's cooking abilities?" he accuses in a joking manner.

"I'm just making conversation!" She raises her hands in defense.

"And what about you, are you a master chef?"

"I can cook a little bit! my mom on the other hand, she can cook like you wouldn't believe. Tried to make me her protegè."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I wasn't cut out for most of it, but some things I can cook real well."

"Like what?"

"I can make a mean Mac and Cheese."

"Hmm, maybe you should give me the recipe."

"I could, but then I'd have to kill you. It's an ancient Wheeler family recipe."

"Oh, really?"

"Really."

They stay silent for a few seconds, grinning and making doe eyes at each other. She breaks the comfortable quietness this time.

"So, how exactly is it that you were so good with Mocha during her exam?"

"I just love animals." he reiterates.

"I swear, when you were using your stethoscope on her and she licked your nose, it was just about the cutest thing I've ever seen."

"Do you want to try?"

"What?" Her eyebrows furrow in confusion.

"Using the stethoscope. Listening to her heartbeat. Do you want to try?"

"That sounds like fun," She grins and nods her acceptence. They both put their empty plates into the sink and she goes to sit on the couch in the livingroom, where Mocha and Ziggy are engaged in a tug of war with his toy (which Ziggy seems to be letting Mocha win) while Jonathan retreats into his bedroom to grab his stethoscope.

He returns a second later, wiping the ear pieces with a disenfecting wipe. He sits down on the floor next to the dogs and motions for her to follow suit, which she does.

"So you're gonna put these in your ears this way," he says while holding the ear peices so they're facing outwards, "And put the other end next to her armpit, and you should hear her heartbeat. Count how many beats you hear for fifteen seconds and I'll tell you her average heart rate."

She listens intently but also can't help but notice how passionate he sounds as he explains to her.

"Okay."

She takes the stethoscope from him and puts them in her ears the way he demonstrated and moves closer to Mocha, who is tricked into laying on her side with a quick belly rub from Jonathan, who also pulls Ziggy in close to him and pets his head so Nancy and Mocha can have a little bit of space. She puts the stethoscope next to the dog's armpit, listening for her heartbeat, but can't seem to find it. After a minute or two of trying, moving the stethoscope in different places, she still can't get it and pulls the ear pieces out.

"I can't find it."

"No?"

"Maybe try a different spot?"

"Maybe." Jonathan says, "I can help. Uh, may I?" he asks and suddenly she gets what he's getting at. She nods. He moves next to her and his large hand covers hers, moving it next to Mocha's armpit once more, a little higher than she went. A blush rises on her cheeks and her stomach does swan dives at his touch. Her own heart is beating so hard that it doesn't register that she can hear Mocha's heartbeat.

"I got it,"  She says and Jonathan nods, blushing as well.

She wills herself to focus and counts the number of times she hears Mocha's heart beat for fifteen seconds like Jonathan had instructed. She pulls the stethoscope out and he pulls his hand away, and she immediately misses the contact.

"I counted 25."

"Her heart's beating 100 times per minute, then." He answers immediately. "Perfectly normal."

She smiles and pats Mocha's head. "You hear that, girl? Doctor Jonathan said you're all good."

Jonathan blushes and ducks his head once more with a small smile.

"Would you like to watch some TV?" He asks after a few seconds and she nods. They sit on the couch, the dogs jumping to join them. Jonathan gives her the remote to choose as she pleases and a grin spreads across his lips when she lands on reruns of one of her favorite shows from her childhood.

"You like Spongebob too?"

"It's one of my favorite shows!"

A couple of minutes into the episode she notices that they're sitting pretty close. And that he smells really nice. And his jawline looks even sharper in this lighting. And that his hand is sitting next to his thigh and right next to her in prime holding position. She lays her hand next to his and sees him look down at it from the corner of her eye. She can just make out him almost steeling himself, shoulders stiffening, and she would giggle if he didn't gently grab her hand and lace their fingers together, making her heart jump. She looks up at him and they both share a smile and she's just about to lean in when one of the dogs crawls over her lap and in between them and God dam _NIT MOCHA-_

Both her and Jonathan chuckle awkwardly and move away from each other a bit, Mocha effectively a wall between them. She shoots her spaniel the stink eye every once in awhile over the next hour as they watch Spongebob and Patrick cause all kinds of shenanigans over the next hour.

After awhile, she can feel herself getting sleepy and decides that it's time to call it a night

"I'll walk you home." Jonathan says and puts a leash on Ziggy so he can come too. They make small talk on their way back to her place, Mocha and Ziggy walking in front of them and smelling everything in reach.

Eventually they get back to her door and turn to each other.

"Well, here we are."

She says, and Jonathan nods.

"I had a really good time tonight, Nancy."

"So did I. Thanks for the nice dinner."

"You're welcome." They stare at each other for a couple seconds, neither of them saying a word. But then Jonathan's eyes flicker down to her eyes for a second and her heart kickstarts.

She does the same and then raises her eyebrows slightly, a silent question. Jonathan exhales softly.

And then he leans in and kisses her.

She gasps softly against his mouth but reciprocates eagerly, hand coming up to his cheek. His lips are soft and she can feel them smile slightly against her own.

His large hand rests on her hip, and she goes to wrap her free hand around his shoulders but forgets that she's still holding Mocha's leash and only ends up pulling the poor spaniel against her and Jonathan.

They both break apart and share a breathless laugh, resting their foreheads together.

"Wow...that was uh...something." He finally says and she giggles more, pressing another quick kiss to his cheek. She can feel the warm blush against her lips.

"Yeah."

"I'll, uh, talk to you tomorrow?"

"Talk to you tomorrow."  She confirms and they pull apart and she watches as he starts to walk down the sidewalk with Ziggy, turning to wave at her. She returns the wave before heading inside with Mocha.

 

\------------------------------

_Three weeks later_

 

Barb enters her and Nancy's place late at night, shutting the door quietly behind her. Rolling her neck to get the kinks out, she wants nothing more to hop into bed and fall asleep after a long day.

As she walks through the living room, something takes her by surprise. Mocha is curled up on the couch. She always sleeps with Nancy in her bed. She walks up to the dog and pets her head, who sleepily wags her tail at the touch.

"Hey girl, what's going on? Nancy didn't fall asleep without you did she?"

She scoops Mocha up in her arms and walks to Nancy's door, planning on sneaking in and leaving the dog on her bed. As she gets to the door, something stops her.

_"Oh, Jonathan, yesss..."_

Nancy's up alright.

"Come on, girl. Looks like you're gonna be sleeping with me tonight." Barb sighs, making her way with Mocha into her own bedroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reviews and Kudos are always appreciated!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading, comments and kudos are ALWAYS appreciated!


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